Still Here...

Still breathing...

On a dead run, though.  Wisest Sister is visiting, and there were many, many things to do before she arrived.

The neighborhood garage sale happens a couple of days after she leaves, so all had to be at least sorted and sort of staged for that.

The craft room had to be - had to! be- in top notch order for her inspection, too.

We spread a lot of mulch in the yard.  A lot!  About 64 square ft.  But that is done, too, and the iris are blooming.  Pictures are coming.

Now that Wisest Sister is here, we have had the kids over, and spent time with the grandbebe girls.

And tomorrow?  We are heading to Nebraska!  Nebraska?  Why Nebraska?

Nebraska is where Brown Sheep Company lives, and we are going to visit.  If they are home, we are going to see Scott's Bluff National Monument.

And enjoy each other's company.

Catch-All Catch Up

It's been a crazy few weeks at work, and for me that means on my feet much of the time in the lab.  With lots of thinking. When I get home, I am usually past that.  The thinking part, and therefore, no snap, no wit, and no insight.

So no blog posts of late.

Wonderful Guy and I rode 22 1/2 miles on the anniversary day.  Most of it pre-wind.  Part of the ride took us to our local public gardens.  I haven't even downloaded the photos.

The wind has since blown 3 of the last 4 days.  My three bloooming tall beardeds are holding their own.  Again, one might ask...where are the photos?  To which I would reply...that requires energy, motivation, and initiative.

There is a neighborhood garage sale approaching, and I am trying to make progress to that end.  It is easy to move things to the garage.  The organization/pricing/staging once there....not so much.  But I won't think about that today... 'I'll think about that tomorrow'.

Wisest Sister is coming for a visit this weekend and we are anxiously anticipating time spent with her.

Best Dog Ever has been exhibiting escapist tendencies, then returning home, her time away unnoticed.  We knew nothing of this, until neighbors ratted her out. We fixed what we thought was her route of freedom on Saturday.  But Sunday, when we ran into same neighbors, they said Best Dog (most-of-the-time) had been down the block, visiting again.  Wha??? Further investigation was called for and further remedy was made.

I have a brand spanking new studio/craft/me-space, and have not felt the creative mojo.  At all.  I spin, because so little thinking is required.

Grandbebe Bean's quilt sits in the corner and taunts me, saying, 'She will drive here one day looking for it, at the rate you are moving on it...then what will you say to her?  hmmmm?' I am committing myself to making one night a week 'quilting night' to make some progress on the quilting.

I do have all the plants purchased so far in the ground, or in patio pots, so progress there.  The yard is looking really fine, and I have been pleased to have had a couple of evenings where spending a bit of time under the pergola has been very pleasant.  I have never been in one home as long as I have been here.  This is the eighth spring here, and my yard has taken on a personality of it's own.  Sort of maturing, with certain things readily seeding out and spreading, and a survival of the fittest type thing going on.  It works, and I like it.  I like it alot.

Well, thanks for checking back when there were no updates.  Perhaps life will be a bit lighter going forward!

7 Years Ago...

...Wonderful Guy and I married each other.

Can't believe it's been that long.

Second chances really are possible.

Thanks, Perry, for asking me to marry you, and for being my best friend.

It just keeps getting better.

TGIF

I woke early early early Thursday morning, stretched, rolled over, and before going back to sleep, thought, I am soooo glad it's Friday.

Only it wasn't.  It was Thursday.  It's was a very long week, work-wise.  Very busy. Very wearing and tiring. I am really too old for that much effort.  (Unless it's effort that I choose to put forth.  Like for my new crafty, creative studio space....I liked putting forth that effort....)

And on the home front, there have been a few details with the 'new room' that have occupied me and a meeting of which I was 'in charge'. I don't like being in charge so much. (Unless it is being in charge of something I like...like picking where we might go for ice cream.  I would like to be in charge of that, for instance...)

All this, coming off a weekend where I had put forth a mighty effort already.

So I am glad it's le weekend!  And there will be no moving of furniture this weekend, of that one can be sure.

The weather is cooperating, and there will be outdoor adventures.  Already, the Mother's Day plants are in the ground.  There will be fresh tomatoes again this year.

And yesterday, these opened up.  The first tall beardeds of the season.

Silverado

Ruth Raymond Blue

And a group of Wide Blue Eyes in full bloom...just because.

The week did have it's high-lights.

Where Have I Been?

I have been rilly rilly bizzy.  As the proverbial bee.  As a bee that is another year older even.

I shall start at the beginning.

I have thinking for a while about my upstairs bedrooms.  Both have been rooms essentially maintained for guests, with one doubling as my 'craft site'.

It has been cumbersome, however, both for me walking around all the bedroom furniture to get to the sewing machine and the shelves upon which I keep my 'things' and to the closet where I keep my other 'things'.  It has also been a nuisance for our guests to have to put up with my stuff when they have all their stuff spread out from here to yon.

So much with the stuff!

So, like I said, I have been thinking for a while.  The brainstorming proceeded to planning (yes, I drew out a sketch), and from the planning, I started filling in Wonderful Guy about what I was considering.  I move in stages that way...slowly, but steadily.

My thought processes coalesced this past weekend and the planets aligned and I started.  Friday night I knocked down the bed in the first bedroom.  Saturday, shelves went up.  Sunday afternoon, we hacked together my knock off craft table. And all the while, I was packing and unpacking and moving and moving out and making decisions....and oh I don't even know if I can decide one more thing....just toss it all!

Not really. I am joking.

As of now, all the furniture from Bedroom #1 is in Bedroom #2 (where the craft supplies use to live).  Bedroom #2 is ready and waiting for guests.  And all the craft supplies in this entire house is now in My. Craft. Room. (formerly known as Bedroom #1)

I lied.  Molly, the Marvelous Matchless still lives in the TV room, and my knitting book shelf is still down stairs.  There is still a corner with 'my stuff'...but it's a teensier tinier corner now!

So, yeah.  Busy, because there was lots of toting back and forth and moving this and that, and taking this to the garage for the sale, and OMG! that was so heavy!!!  And late late nights.  And trips to the ginourmous box stores with measurements and trying to figure out the directions and The Thinking! even after all The Planning and The Knowing what we wanted. And the moving of stuff back and forth and forth and back.  Because!  Everything from one room went into the other.

But I have a really Wonderful Guy.  He listens really well, and offers suggestions, and listens some more, and is kindly patient with my creative pursuits.

And he is really, really good at putting up shelves.

Behold.  Le Studio d'Iron!

The crafty table?  Of a height that will be good for cutting out fabric.  While I won't be able to walk all the way around it, it is 3x5.  Cleared off and with a cutting top, it will be very adequate.

Still to be done...I think the antique Goody's prints will go.  I am not sure what will replace them.  Maybe my own photos?!

Shelves all new!  Tubs all new!

2 new shelves in the closet, too!  And in the cabinet there?  The Singing Singer sleeps....

Close up of my knock off crafty table.  So not $500....not even close!

So yeah.  Happy Birthday to me!  I celebrated that little milestone yesterday, by dusting off the bike and kicking off the biking season.  I cranked out my 15 mile commute (round trip). Not bad for a 55 year old.  I won't tell you how long it took me to get home...

The Time of Year

Lilies of the Valley, cut on Sunday, still fragrant on Thursday

Mother's Day was a little tough for me this year.  I thought of Momma more often than I have in the past.  I missed having her to call.  It seemed like there would have been stuff I would have shared with her, if she had been around this year.

Mom sure would have loved to have seen my girls grown up, and who they have become.  And I think she would have been tickled with my grandbebe girls.  I would love for her to know how I have done since the dee-vorce, and for her to have really gotten to know the Guy, and his (now our) kids.

I think she would have enjoyed sitting on my back patio, knitting dishclothes.  And I think she would nod in approval of the ground I have covered in my knitting accomplishments.

She probably wouldn't think my way of planting iris to be proper, however.  But, we all have to go our own way sometimes...

Momma would love to know of how Wonderful Guy and I travel, and my new camera skilz, I think.

I know, I know. I am thinking of Momma of a few years ago, the woman who traveled to the grandkid's graduations, and gardened, and sold iris at the farmer's market in Overland Park.

But's that the Momma I have been missing lately, the one I have been wishing I could call up and with whom I could chat.

Lilacs, still doing okay, after being buried by the snow, and a couple of chilly nights

Having lilacs take me back to being a little girl. And spending a weekend back in Kansas earlier this spring helped all these feelings, too, I am sure.

Then there is this.  Wisest Sister sent me a package today.  (I swear, my report cards from grade school ended up everywhere but with me!  I suffered no end of abuse when a less than stellar report card fell into Dearest Sister's hands a couple years back!) Click to make big if you really want to read Miss Ravenstein's exquisite handwriting.  Because it is.  Exquisite, that is.

First, I got A's in science!  Now what science-y thing we did in 3rd grade, I am not sure.  Probably had alot to do with reading from a book. Such a good way to learn science.
Second, I got B's in art.  Which I remember thinking at the time meant I was no good in that particular subject.
Thirdly, I was a healthy, model citizen, obedient and courteous, who played well with others.  Interestingly, these are traits that haven't always served me well through life.  I think it might have been good to have spaces for 'assertive', 'stands her ground', 'has found her voice', 'speaks her truth', 'protects the rights of the less fortunate'.  But alas, I was in grade school in the early 60's.  In a small town.  And round pegs needed to fit into round holes....
Fourth, there's my mom's signature.  Always recognizable.  Never able to forge it...if I was to try, that is....

Just missing my mom more than usual.

And now I have to frog about 10 rows on Eldest's February Lady Sweater.  Mom, this one's for you.

It's Just White Fluffy Rain

This would be my lilac bush...

And it's so hard to take mid-May, especially after weekends in the yard and at the nursery and taking pictures of nascent growth.

My work calls for a couple of after-hour trips back to the lab for the mad science-y stuff I do.  So there I was, 3 AM, traveling the deserted roads of our faire burg.  Because, after all, our brave little burg isn't NYC and sleeps at night.  Those above mentioned deserted roads were wet and deep with slushy snowiness.

I follow a pretty set path to work and home again, much like an old horse finding her way to her pasture.  But geez oh peez, does my way back to pasture sure look different in the dark!  In the slushy slushiness, I stayed in the left lane, even though my habit is to drive in the right lane.  And a good thing I did!

Broken limbs!  Carnage!  End of days!  Well, maybe only a few broken limbs, really, but if I was driving along all lah-ti-dah, or more like...half asleep... in my usual lane...well, it would have been a rude awakening!

Very glad I am for dragging my raggedy a__ out of bed at the crack of dawn on Saturday to get some photos of the local trees wearing their spring finery.  Because all the spring finery is surely the worse for wear now.

Well.  It's moisture.  And I don't think it's so cold that every little thing is getting it's toes frozen, especially with the blanket of snow.  But darn it, somehow I could live with 'rain' so much easier...being May and all.

Wee Iris

I have these blooming now. All at once.

none of these are tall bearded. The above pictured is about 15" in height.

This one only about 6" high.

I think for the first time since moving here 7 springs ago.

Little Yellow is about 8" high.

Spring took a long time in getting here but it seems to all be working out ok.

This guy blooms about 15" tall.

But then.

These are about the same, 15" tall.

Close-up

Chilly nights are the forecast for the week once again.

Mother's Day purchases, including tomatoes, will wait for planting.

Prudence dictates!

Spectacular Saturday

This morning, I made suggested that Wonderful Guy get up early, and without breakfast, drive me around town to take pix of trees.

The spring has been perfect for the blooming trees in our fair burg.

On the way to work this week, I noticed how glorious the crabapples look in the morning light.

And remarked to myself how I ought to get myself and my fancy schmancy camera out there in the morning light to capture just how spectacular they are looking.

These are some of what we saw.  Not all are crabapples.  If, indeed, any are...but really I do think the pink are crabapples.

Not sure what the white are.

This is a sweet plum, but produces no plums, and I don't know that it is particularly sweet on anyone.

And this is one of the few redbuds around town.  There are a few about, and on occasion, they get to flower.  I remember living in Kentucky, the Kentucky River palisades were covered with redbuds all over in April!

I know...a lot of photos, but the trees around my town deserve a showing off this spring.

For up close and personal, embiggen by clicken....

I Got The Blues

Blooming at chez Irons...flowers the color of my girl's eyes...

Yellow eyed Forget Me Nots...which I just love, but will miss if I am not attentive! (Love the alpine version, too!)

Fancy violets...

Common violets, but click to see the white one with speckles!  I think they are cross breeding and I am getting shades of violet...

Solomon's Seal, which are not blue or violet...but I don't care!

And....drum roll...I think I am going to have lilacs this year!  That is a squeal of joy coming from the foothills of Colorado, folks.

Followed by another, after a big inhale of the one fragrance guaranteed to take me back to walking to school in May in Greensburg, Kansas.

Something Old, Something New

There were five of us siblings until 1989, when Deeply Missed Sister passed away.  I have written a bit about her here, and what my older sisters mean to me here.

When Deeply Missed Sister passed, I recieved an amethyst ring of hers.  In one of the above posts I wrote about how distinctive and graceful her fingers and hands were.  The setting of this ring was much too long for me to wear.  My fingers and hands are not short or stubby, but do not compare, and don't have the length between knuckles for such a long stone.

The ring sat in my jewelry box.  Until a couple weeks ago, that is.  I took it to a jeweler, who Wonderful Guy and I bought our wedding rings from.  (He also rides the same kind of motorcycle as Wonderful Guy, so once that was found out...well...you know...it's was all 'Hail, fellow, well met' from there on out...)

I was looking for suggestions, being pretty much clueless, and thinking we would reset the amethyst, and the itty bitty diamond into a pendant.  Jeweler Friend and Partner do a real bang up job in the design aspect, and I thought I could trust them.  And being clueless left me few options.

Jeweler Friend (and fellow motorcycle rider) suggested leaving the setting as is.  Cutting off the band and hanging a bale (technical term!) through the setting.  I liked that.  I liked that alot.  Kept Sister's ring looking like we all remembered it.

Doesn't it?

PS I think maybe? in the next to last photo of the 2nd post linked above, she may be wearing the ring...

(Clicky to biggy for a closer look at the pendant. I don't think that action will work on the links, though.)

Yarn Lust

Today's suggested subject is something about some yarn used or coveted or hoarded that is particularly particular, in my opinion. Particularly.

I looked through my projects on Ravelry, and then my stash on Ravely.  First I was all....Wow!  Look what I have done!  So cool, and what progress!  Then I was.  Ohmygah.  I have so much yarn and roving I could knit myself through retirement.

Maybe.

Maybe not...though, so I shouldn't stop buying.  Just yet.  Just in case.

But I digress.  Back to yarns.

Cotton holds a special place, because I remember Momma knitting dishclothes with cotton, and it's cheap and comes in a veritable array of colors.

And I love my handspun.  I love my handspun from fiber I have processed myself.  There is something very connecting about the whole process, especially when I have met the bearer of the fleece and I become the wearer of the knitted article.  Alpaca is plentiful around my locale, and it is delightful to both spin and knit and also to wear.  Kind of a headache to process, actually.

Wool blended with a) cashmere, b) silk, c) both a &b I think knits like butter.  And I love butter!

Color-wise, I love natural colors until I start knitting with painted yarn.  I love seeing how self-striping yarn knits up between my needles.  Then I see a wonderful silvery-grey, or a rich brown, and think that's to die for.

Mostly I love bargains, and usually am fortunate enough to find my favorites often enough to feed my hobby/addiction without feeling guilty.  Mostly.

And that brings me to the two fibers I have never knitted, but would dearly love to try.  Buffalo and qiviut.  They just never go on sale.

An FO...

and other Spring-y stuff.

Today's subject is revisiting a past project.  That's is very hard to do for me today.

Nay.

Impossible.  Because....(drum roll)...

Peasy!! (by Heidi Kirrmaier) is finished!

(Buttons from DSis's stash.)

(Aarlen Cashmere/Wool a gift from Martha at Q is for Quilter.)

I loved knitting this.  The yarn was so very nice.  For once I was confident I had enough and wasn't going to run out!  It will look lovely over a cami or tank.  But still chilly here, so today, over a long-sleeved tee. Followed the pattern pretty much exactly, and thought it was well-written.

Peasy's initial voyage was to the monthly weaver's & spinner's guild meeting, where I bought a Jacob's fleece from a local....sheep raiser person. Sweet baby lambs, where does my mind go at times like that?  I need more stuff to spin, and additional things to do like...I don't know what.

Anyway, I also have these to show off.

Tar Heel Elf

And I think...Wide Blue Eyes.  Interestingly, this particular bloom?  4 standards and 4 falls.  Sort of a mutant ninja medium bearded iris...

In spite of the chilly nights, I have blooms.

XX Fingers still crossed for the lilacs. XX